Through Light, Through Darkness
by CorvusCaurinus
Summary: Celestia has gone missing in the dead of night with nary a trace. As Twilight tries to find out what has happened to her mentor, her friends begin to disappear as well, one by one. Leaving the distraught unicorn precious little time to find out who or what is behind it all and more sinister, to what ends.
1. Prologue

The last ambers of the setting sun had slowly burned away as day gave way to the cool, dark night with its rich velvety star-studded tapestry.

Satisfied with another day put to rest and secure in the knowledge that her beloved sister would guard the night, Celestia had withdrawn to her chambers. The large and luxurious bed there beckoned and she did little to resist the siren call. Having tucked away her jewelry for the night and finished up her bathroom related business the solar princess slid down between the silk sheets with a content sigh.

Celestia nuzzled her head deeply into the large, soft pillow and within minutes she had left the waking world for deep slumber. The princess's personal aid gleaned gently through a crack in the door and satisfied that her employer was safely tucked away for the night she retired to her own room.

The night progressed in a quiet manner, a few guards maintained a constant vigil around the castle grounds and a handful of maintenance ponies went about their business handling various tasks that otherwise couldn't be completed during the more busy hours during the day.

Luna, princess of the night, were also busy but for entirely different reasons. She had secluded herself in her private chambers, eagerly studying literature detailing historical events and the social progress of Equestria for the past thousand years.

The Canterlot castle seemed poised for another eventless night. However, as the bell tower had solemnly chimed the first hour past midnight something did disturbed the quiet evening.

In the Celestia's chamber, wisps of darkness began to slither through the air towards a secluded corner. Slowly they gathered and began to coalescence into a pony like shape. Seconds idled by until the shape of a large unicorn stallion was formed and with final soft glimmer of white, it solidified into a real pony.

Where his coat was as dark as the shadows he was occupying, his tail and mane stood in stark contrast against dark fur by shining brightly white. His cutiemark, from which white flames flicked and danced, consisted of a six pointed star this in the same bright color as his mane and tail. The only visible accessory that he wore around the base of his horn was a thick golden ring, complete with a blood, red ruby.

He stood momentarily in silence, trying to get his bearings until he spotted the large bed with its inhabitant. A smirk drew over his visage when he saw the sun princess fast asleep. He approached on deft hooves until he stood by the side of the bed. The only reaction of his presence was the minuscule rise and fall of the sheet in tempo with her slow breath.

The dark stallion shook his head lightly, his glowing mane painting streaks of ethereal light upon the tapestry and walls alike. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to infiltrate the castle grounds, to enter the very sanctum of the solar princess herself! It was incredible that she could be so naïve or rather so trusting as there wasn't a protective spell to be found around neither the castle nor her chambers.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. His eyes narrowed as he realized that he had almost underestimated the princess and that was a highly dangerous thing to do. Even though everything had been quite easy to achieve thus far, others before him, had also been successful in their initial forays challenging Celestia.

Sombra have had the right potential but let his thirst for crystals addle his mind into a pointless pursue of the Crystal empire which in turn had led to his defeat. Chrysalis had almost done everything right by subverting and exchanging one that stood close to the throne but her clumsy attempt at a direct confrontation had seen to her untimely defeat. Even the great trickster himself, Discord, had been turned into nothing more but a useless lawn ornament, standing as a monument to his own failure. He wouldn't be such a foal as to believe that the snow white alicorn before him was a whimsical, powerless mare.

He had to take great care in what he planned to do in regards of the potential threat that Celestia posed. No matter how well conceived his preparations had been to this point he paused where he stood to silently consider his next step, just to be certain that he hadn't left anything out.

With nothing else audible than the princess's slow breathing and his mental checklist complete, he felt confident enough to let his magic flow forth. This effort was soon rewarded in the form of a white flash and the appearance of a golden ring that winked into existence.

It was a sibling of the one he was wearing himself with the only difference being that no gem broke the smooth golden surface. It glimmered coldly in the pale flickering light that emanated from his mane and tail.

This part of his grand plan was a minuscule step, yet it was very important. With the ring in hoof, he progressed with his next part by guiding the ring towards the sleeping Celestia and let it slid over her horn, it reached the base where it secure itself with a soft click.

The reaction upon contact was instantaneous; with a loud gasp Celestia's eyes flew open as she was violently drawn from deep slumber. Horn was set alight with bright magic and her normally pale rose colored eyes revealed themselves to be slates of pure whiteness. The ring set so securely around the base of the horn began to vibrate and rise up, threatening to leave the magical pillar it was currently circumventing.

The stallion was stunned at the result from placing the ring over Celestia's horn. It was all wrong; she shouldn't be able to rid herself from the ring and its influence. The effect from it should have been instantaneously but here she was, vigorously fighting it. This was the very thing that he just prior had worried about, that he would underestimate her in some way and he had apparently greatly overestimated the force that the ring represented.

With an angry grunt he let his own magic flow forth in order to keep the ring securely in place, he couldn't let Celestia rid herself of it and the longer it remained in the place the weaker she would become. Immediately he found himself in a magical wrestling match for the ring. The sheer power threating to launch the ring away from its resting place was immense.

The clash between Celestia, the stallion and the ring was quickly building up a massive amount of magic. The room was glowing with raw energies that sparkled and danced, sending forks of pure magic shooting across the room. The magical duel unfolding wasn't something that went unnoticed.

Luna was feeling tired and worn, despite her best efforts at fighting of these feelings. Her plot was placed on a large blue colored pillow retrieved from her bed, a large pot of strong tea had been ordered from the kitchen and was almost consumed.

Despite these actions it had been to little avail her current tired state. It didn't help that the current book she was perusing was dreadfully boring. The subject of this literary work was changes in the tax code over the past four hundred years. The pony that had authored it had seen fit to write it in the driest and most detailing manner possible.

With a weary sigh she drew the thick, dusty old ledger to a close and levitated it over to the "later" pile. A pile of books and scrolls which was becoming distressingly tall, something that contrasted her "finished" pile which consisted of only a few, rather thin, volumes.

As she briefly pondered her next item of reading material, a wave of magic flowed over her, like a stream of rushing water. A shiver ran down her spine as if she had been doused in ice cold water. Her mane and tail stood on end and her ears, perked, was turning back and forth.

It was a strange set of magic, dark and foreboding, that left the Princess of the night momentarily puzzled as to what it was until she felt a familiar sliver of magic, namely her sisters, filtering through.

She rose from her study corner and began towards the door as the urge to check on her big sister had become overwhelming. Luna never managed to reach it. Instead she was knocked to the floor by a powerful magical discharge that rumbled and shook the entire castle.

Within seconds she was back on her feet and immediately teleported to Celestia's chambers. A state of chaos and disarray met the lunar princess. The room was smashed to pieces, the tapestry shredded, carpet burned and wooden furniture was singed and blackened as by immense heat. She scrunched her nose against a foul burning smell that permeated the air. Shocked by the destruction of her sisters chambers she moved forward only to be stopped by a soft plink against her right front hoof.

It was one of her sister's gilded footwear; it was scuffed and dented with soot clinging to the golden surface. Luna stared blankly at the footwear before she raised her head and called out, her voice slightly trembling.

"Sister?!"

There were no answer, her sister was gone and she was alone.


	2. Chapter One

_When green hills fade into bleak_

The world grows cold and dark

Jagged pools of moonlight speak

_And dark shadows leave a mark_

Dawn broke as the sun rose over the horizon, sending long, golden streaks of light over the cityscape. A few of these beams filtered their way through poorly drawn shades in a second floor apartment. There they slowly crept across a worn, square shaped rug, which was occupying a part of the linoleum floor it had been placed there almost as an afterthought.

The light continued by skipping across a pair of worn and faded blue jeans, haphazardly discarded not far from the rug. The warm glow of morning sun played briefly with a pair of dust bunnies before arriving at a bed that stood sequestered in the far corner of the small and shoe boxed shaped bedroom. A light snoring that barely could be heard over the distant noise from the outside street emanated from underneath the fluffy duvet cover.

There the light began to gently prod a head covered by a river of raven black hair that spilled over the white pillow. The only response from this light infused poking was a soft grunt and the owner of the pile of hair moved further under the blue and white striped cover in order to escape.

It was an escape that worked only temporarily, as the sliver of light that had forged a narrow path through the deep blue shadows that loomed among the furniture, quickly grew into a golden glow that illuminated the entire bedroom.

A casual observer would now have an unfettered view of the small room. Besides the bed there was a dresser pushed up against the opposite wall. It had its drawers half open with some of the contents hanging carelessly over the sides. Next to it was a wall mounted wardrobe, the sliding doors firmly closed. A couple of nondescript, framed posters hanging on the walls accentuated room. A floor mirror stood in the opposite secluded corner and was partly obscured by a towel and other assortments of carelessly hung clothing.

It was picturesque morning scene featuring a sleeping woman. It was perfect stillness that lingered in a room awash with soft light with only minuscule ambient sounds present. This was not to be as the tranquility was harshly broken by a jaunty tune that began to play at a loud volume. The electronic music continued for a few seconds before an irritated grumbled from underneath the duvet sent a hand forth. The emerged hand began a grabbing sort of dance over the wooden surface, knocking over a half full water bottle that rattled over the edge and down on the floor, a box of tissues was brusquely pushed aside, until the hand found its prey, a ringing smartphone.

The phone in question was awkwardly drawn back underneath the cover where the tune was abruptly cut. "Yes?" A voice raspy and coarse grumbled in reply to the attention that the caller had sought. The retort that followed was a series of words, filtering through an ear-piece carelessly held against an ear.

"WHAT?!"

Jennifer sat bolt right up in her bed staring wild eyed and in disbelief at her cell phone. The source of this sudden consternation stemmed from the unpleasant fact that she just had been told by her co-worker, Andrea, that she was late for work. This piece of information was further exacerbated by a set of small digits on her smartphone that cruelly stated not only was Andrea right but Jennifer should have been at work for more than an hour ago.

Cool and levelheaded Andrea had, succinctly stated this in her usual, serene way. Jennifer was sure that her honey blond co-worker, unflappable as she was, could deliver the news that the end of the world was at hand with the same calm and collected way she dealt with irate customers, broken machinery and other disasters that befell the coffee shop where Jennifer's work held residence.

Jennifer's sleep addled mind laboriously churned over how to deal with this situation that had arisen. Never been much of a morning person, Jennifer usually required a hot shower and copious amounts of coffee before her mind was readily receptive for any forms of startling conclusions similar to the one she just had received.

"Jennifer? Are you still there?" Andrea's voice queried from her smartphone. The raven haired woman stared back in equal amounts of bewilderment and confusion until the correct synapses in her brain finally fired and the gravity of the situation came screeching through her mind.

"I'm on my way!" She screamed back in desperation as she pushed the red bar on the screen ending the call. The smart phone found itself on a short trajectory back on the table as Jennifer tore the duvet cover from her body and sent her slender legs over the edge of the bed.

At this moment Jennifer lamented her rather poor decision last night to engage in a gaming session that had lasted well until past the midnight hour. She wasn't much of a regular gamer, yet when she got her hands on a game that really garnered her interest she found it hard to stop playing.

In the hours after closing time Jennifer had raced home clutching a copy of a video game that she had wanted for quite some time. With take-away and beer expediently secured from separate shops in the neighborhood where she lived, Jennifer had planted her behind firmly in her living room sofa.

The following hours had been a swirling adventure of graphics, music and a compelling story that had made it hard to for her to quit.

Showing up at work for more than an hour and a half late with the rather thin excuse that she had overslept due to her nightly gaming binge, was not going to work rather well with her manager.

With this in mind Jennifer knew that she had precious little time to spare. The carelessly discarded jeans were fetched from its impromptu resting place on the floor, fresh underwear and a nondescript grey t-shirt was quickly sourced from the bedroom dresser and with the bundled of clothing secure in her arms Jennifer made for the bathroom.

The door drew shut behind Jennifer only to be opened moments later with her nightwear being carelessly tossed out into the narrow hallway. What followed was the telltale sound of a shower running. Blasting the shower at full power with hot water was a boon for Jennifer's spirits; it jolted her into a more alert state, away from the wispy grasp of sleep.

As much as she relished the watery wakeup it brought with it the arduous work of having to dry long, thick hair. Per se she didn't mind her own hair, people usually commended her for her luxurious hair but unfortunately it had a tendency to grow like weed and with the length and thickness came the need for proper grooming. She had a battery of plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes, containing different kinds of shampoos, conditioners and balsams to fight off the knots, the grease and the split ends that followed with the kind of hair she possessed.

It didn't help that she was long overdue for a haircut. Jennifer wasn't the most organized person and that was something she was acutely aware of. It wasn't an unusual occurrence for Jennifer to forget to buy groceries or do laundry so a thing like getting a proper haircut in time was usually acknowledge and then promptly forgotten.

Leaning to the side she was working her long mane of hair with a towel and a hairdryer in desperate bid to dry it out before she was to leave her apartment. With the mass of hair semi-dry she briefly tried to straighten it out with a brush only to give up as it stuck as soon as she tried to draw it through. A few futile tugs later and she untangled the comb with a low, irritated growl. She didn't need this and especially now. Had she had the time Jennifer might have even considered cutting her own hair.

Instead she opted to quickly weave, with nimble fingers born out of long practice, the hair into a crude braid and tied it off with a rubber band that had lingered among the usual fare of clutter that had taken residence in her bathroom cabinet.

Pausing at her sink, she stared into the mirror where a tired and bleak face stared back underneath her raven bangs and a set of deep, irritated furrows in her brow. Dark lines held court under each eye. A thin, pointy nose jutted out from her face like a mountain outcropping, her full lips were pale and the only bright color visible in her face were her deep blue eyes. It was not a customer friendly face and Jennifer knew that if she were to appear at work looking like something recently exhumed from a grave she would receive a stern talking to.

Then again, she had already racked up one offense this morning by being almost ludicrously late and adding another infraction seemed at the moment almost trivial. With a heavy sigh, she idly considered some makeup to cover up the worst parts but time was not in her favor. Besides, she was certain that Andrea would be able to offer her assistance. Jennifer readily conceded that she had never met any other girl that carried so many different skin care and makeup products than her co-worker.

Her bathroom visit all finished Jennifer made her way to the small kitchen, a clean but slightly disorganized place. A couple empty beer bottles lingered among empty take-away containers on her kitchen sink, stark evidence of last night's events.

The raven haired woman glanced longingly at the can of coffee, extra dark roast that she had on the shelf in her kitchen. She wished nothing more than sit down for a proper breakfast which wasn't an option considering she had a bus to catch. Jennifer held some comfort that she had ample access to coffee at work. Her stomach let out a low grumble as proof of her mounting hunger.

Rummaging through her fridge for anything that she could bring and eat on the bus as much as she could buy a sandwich at work, she was ravenous in this instance. Thomas, that was another of her coworkers, made the most delicious bacon sandwich, one which was part of the coffee shop menu. She was almost salivating when thinking about it.

Pushing near empty condiment bottles and jars aside the only thing available was a clear plastic container with a blue lid containing dried apple slices and some mini-carrots. This discovery left her puzzled, she had never been a person that voluntary bought fruits and vegetables, a point that her friends usually chastised her for. Andrea usually quipped that she would be beset with scurvy if she didn't eat her greens.

Weighing it in her left hand with a puzzled expression Jennifer came to the conclusion that it must have been her mother that had surreptitiously left it there for her to find. Her mother could be quite overbearing at times, worrying for her daughter, always badgering Jennifer whether she ate properly or if she had met someone nice.

With a shrug she jammed the container into her lime green messenger bag that lay on her kitchen table. It already contained a wool cap, gloves, a half full water bottle, napkins, a crumple flyer, a few assorted coins and couple of dollar bills.

With her bag secured Jennifer grabbed her beige jacket, scooped up her keys from the hall table and remembered her discarded smartphone just moments before she stepped outside the apartment.

Having left the building Jennifer ran desperately down the sparsely populated street, messenger bag bumping against her hip in rhythm with her steps, the content rattling an asynchronous beat to her long steps. She reached the end of the block and turned sharply around a corner and narrowly missed running straight into a sharply dressed business man.

"Sorry!" Jennifer offered as a quick apology over her shoulder as she tore down the street towards the number five bus that stood idling at her bus stop, doors still open with passengers boarding.

Jennifer repeatedly and silently begged in her mind that the bus wouldn't pull away before she reached it. As she drew close it seemed that she would be able to reach it in time. It wasn't a moment too soon, Jennifer was gasping for air, gulping down mouthfuls as she tried to ignore the stabbing pain at left abdomen side.

She hadn't done any running since PE in High School. Jennifer had hated that back then and she was anything but pleased about doing it now. Ready to collapse at any moment she reached the back end of the bus just as the doors drew to a close. With a roar from the engine it pulled away from the bus stop and merged seamlessly into the morning traffic.

"Wait! WAIT!" She hollered with little effect, waiving her arms over her head in a bid to get the drivers attention, feverishly hoping that driver would catch her semaphoring in the side mirrors. Yet for all her effort the bus kept driving and disappeared quickly among the other cars and trucks.

"Well, shit." She gasped out to no-one in particular where she stood abandoned on the curb, doubled over with her hands on her knees while trying to get her breath back and wishing, in vain, the pain away.

She mentally berated herself for her current shortcomings such as staying up late, taking too long in the bathroom and being too slow in running to the bus. Done with her self-deprecating list she straightened up and brushed an intrusive strand of hair away from her face while considering her options.

There was another option to the bus she just missed and that alternative was the number nine bus. It would pass by the waterfront which was about a block away. If she made it to the bus stop there in time, she could ride it almost all the way to the coffee house where she worked.

It was a big "if" as she would have to cross the boatyard and take a shortcut by the marina and she was already worn and tired by chasing the previous bus. A quick sniff at her right armpit revealed that her flowery fragrance courtesy her shower gel was by now gone. A sour look flashed across Jennifer's face upon this revelation. She already smelled like a gym locker and with the sun rising ever higher in the pale blue sky so was the temperature.

The young woman readily conceded that she wasn't the most organized person and was frequently careless with many domestic chores yet when it came to personal hygiene she was rather self-conscious. Not to mention that her hair tends to stick uncomfortably to her skin when it was hot and she was sweating.

With an irritated groan Jennifer set off once more and soon her slow jog found her at the end of the boatyard, having successfully navigated traffic, pedestrians, bicycles and buses. By now she was really tired, her legs muscles screamed in protest and her left side was sending stabs of pain forth. Her mood had turned sour from the arduous morning. Oversleeping, missing the bus, soaked with sweat and now suffering pains and aches from her involuntary morning running.

Any thoughts in regards of her current situation was cut short as a low ominous rumbling from above sent the Jennifer's eyes skyward and momentarily distracted her from the discomfort she was experiencing.

Her eyes scanned the pale blue sky but there were only a few light wisps of clouds lingering there. There was no obvious source of the rumbling sound present in the sky that would lend credence that it would have emanated from there. A thunderstorm with rain to accompanying it was the last thing she needed or wanted at the moment as she had no umbrella or rain gear with her.

A fresh rumble drew her attention towards the nearby boat storage area. A large forklift was slowly hoisting a small boat upwards, the diesel engine roared as it lifted its cargo awkwardly higher. It wasn't a forgone conclusion that deep rumbling had come from the machine yet she could have sworn that the sound had come from the sky.

With a shrug Jennifer decided to ignore the rumbling, she didn't have the time to investigate strange sounds nor was she particularly interested, as long there wasn't any rain she didn't care; she a bus to catch in order to facilitate transport to work.

She left the boatyard and arrived on the street that passed by the marina. The crux here was that she had to descend down a flight of stairs to the actual marina and the piers there, navigate through the whole marina and then back up another sets of stairs. Her smartphone, fished out of her bag, told her that she had precious little time to do so.

Jennifer paused by the top of the broad stairway that herald her path down to the marina. She was by now exhausted. No breakfast, no coffee and more exercise in the past fifteen minutes that she would a whole year, with a sight she brushed a few loose strands of hair away from her face and steeled herself for the last push she had to do.

A high pitched whistle cut through the air as knife, rudely drawing Jennifer from her introspecting reverie.

"Hey, lady! Get out of there!" A coarse voice barked in a commanding tone. This was quickly followed by a second male voice.

"You on the stairs, move!"

Jennifer blink in surprise over these sudden calls and her confusion was further compounded by the fact that at first glance she didn't see anyone in her immediate vicinity that was the source of this sudden screaming.

Only after further scrutinizing the marina below the stairs that she saw of a group of workers in reflective vests, hardhats and the buoyancy aids standing on one of the nearby piers, apparently busy with some sort of maintenance work.

Right now however, they were all staring at her, frozen half way through their work. Jennifer stared back at them, still confused until a deep, bone rattling rumbling sound hammered down on her from above. Shifting her gaze from the group of men and lifting it skywards she remained frozen in utter surprise. Forming barely ten feet above her head was a cloud. It was rapidly growing in size, emerging into existences from seemingly no-where.

As it grew it shifted in colors, from brilliant white to deep, ink black and whenever the black color became the predominantly there were flashes of blue light within the cloud followed by ominous rumbling.

Jennifer stared in stark and dumbfounded disbelief at the strange phenomena ignoring further calls from the workers that she should get away. A jagged, twisting snake of a lightning bolt sizzled down from a dark area of the ever expanding cloud. It struck the pavement with a sharp and deafening report and sent a shower of burning hot pieces of asphalt spraying the surrounding area. This served as a starting gun for Jennifer who took off down the stairs in terror fueled panic.

Her already abused leg muscles screamed in protest as she skipped down the stairs as fast as she dared. A wall of sounds assaulted her ears. The persistent calls from the workers, the insidious rumbling from the expanding cloud overhead, deep drawn out signal from a ferry, the sad call from a seagull and then the searing crackle of a fresh lightning bolt tearing down from above.

As the jagged lightning bolt struck the world turned brilliant white and the thick, polished wooden boards that served as treads vanished underneath her feet. Jennifer treaded nothing but air for several heartbeats in stillness so profound that she was aware of each breath she took. Even the quick pace of her pulse held a presence like a beating drum in her ears. A sudden snap tore her from the singular state of whiteness and with it came a green wall roaring up towards her.

The drop that followed wasn't long and with a rustle she landed, feet first, on tall soft grass. The momentum she carried propelled Jennifer forward and unfortunately for the raven haired woman, she had landed on a hillside which quickly translated into an uncontrolled tumble.

Tall, green grass and pale blue sky came and went in rapid rolling succession, each quick scene a mere blur of color. This continued for a short while until Jennifer came to an unceremonious stop at the base of the hill by planting her face firmly into a tuft of grass. A rapidly growing pitter patter of sounds in her wake hinted that there were other objects that had followed her down the hill. Like a moving hailstorm these scattered objects peppered the area she had fallen and a few of these unknown objects bounced and played over her prone body.

Still loopy from the fall Jennifer looked up in time to see a large splinter of wood pierce the ground barely a feet away from her head with a soft thud. Jennifer's eyes grew wide and she instinctively drew herself into a fetal position with her hands wrapped over her head in an effort to shield herself from further falling debris.

A few seconds of inactivity idled by as nothing happened. A soft, repeating chirp drew Jennifer from the knot she had tied herself into. Lifting her head she saw a red chested bullfinch sitting on the splinter of wood staring at her with beady, black eyes. It picked at the freshly broken board a few times before it spread its black wings and flew off.

Jennifer noticed that the wooden splinter lodged into the ground was a broken piece of tread from the marina staircase she had occupied moments prior. By now the adrenaline that had surged through her bloodstream when she had been racing down the stairs in a desperate bid to get away from the lightning had begun to subside. Various pains and aches began to manifest themselves in her body and with a shake of her head Jennifer drew her legs underneath herself, winced slightly over the pain in her left knee and sat up.

Upon laying her deep blue eyes on the surrounding landscape, Jennifer froze where she sat and any thoughts concerning injuries sustained during her fall or her current whereabouts was momentarily banished from her mind. Her arms fell to her sides as she sat down on her heels in utter confusion.

The vista unfolding before her was not one she'd expect to find in the city where she lived. Bathing beneath a bright sun in a cloudless sky were rolling hills, each clad in deepest green and dotted by leaf covered trees. Nestled between the hills were open meadows, filled with flowers of every imaginable type in a vast cornucopia of color. A gentle wind caressed the landscape, soft waves played and rippled through the meadows giving them impression of a green moving sea.

It was a peaceful scene, a picture perfect summer's day, yet it was so alien for Jennifer that she might as well have found herself on the surface of Mars. The confused woman rose to her feet and let her right hand rest lightly against her face while her gaze flew over the landscape. Where was she? It wasn't the city park that was for sure.

The water front, the smell of salt from the ocean, the lamenting calls from seagulls it was all gone. There weren't any buildings, traffic or humans as far she could see. Jennifer stood frozen in place, dumbfounded, at loss what to do or even how to react to her current predicament. The sun warmed her battered frame, Jennifer closed her eyes and turned her face towards the glowing orb and for a moment she forgot about her aching body parts.

It was only now that she realized that she was missing her left sneaker. Jennifer studied her grass stained sock for a moment, idly considering the fact that, her missing shoe aside, was something else amiss. With a frown on her face, Jennifer caught the fact that her lime green messenger bag with is black stripe was missing from her hip and so was her wallet, keys and perhaps most importantly, her smartphone.

Rising panic swept aside her detached contemplation over her situation. The bag contained everything that was important to her right now and the smartphone represented a life line, a possible aid to her, leaving the fact of her missing shoe to be almost promptly forgotten.

Much to her relief she quickly found where the bag and her shoe were. By looking in the direction of the hill from where she had taken a tumble she saw the trail of debris that lay all over the green slope.

Pieces of wood, concrete and steel lay scattered all over the hill side. There she saw her missing sneaker resting by a small group of yellow flowers a few yards away and a bit further up the hill laid her messenger bag.

Jennifer limped her way towards her wayward shoe, she suspected that she had lost her left shoe and injured her left knee at the same time while she had rolled down the hill. She retrieved her shoe and shook it to clean out the strands of grass and dirt that accumulated.

The young woman sat laboriously down on a tuft of grass and slowly put the sneaker back on her foot. Once more she paused to consider just what had happened. She didn't know how to convey her feelings for this situation; it was so odd, strange and implausible. Not to mention unsettling. She had more questions than answers and the few answers she could conjure up left cold chills down her spine.

Her shoe secured back on her foot Jennifer made her way towards her bag and the smartphone contained within it. She feverishly hoped that it had survived the fall.

A sudden piercing squawk cut through the beautiful day, freezing Jennifer solid in her stride and sending her eyes skyward for a second time within the past fifteen minutes. What she saw wasn't a bird of prey as the squawk had suggested but something far larger. Riding on broad wings, with primaries fluttering on the sweeping wind was something straight out of a Greek mythology. The large creature there had, beside the wings that held it aloft, the head and claws of an eagle and the rear of a lion, complete with a tail and everything.

The colors where muted brown and dark grey but before Jennifer had an opportunity to further scrutinize this sudden appearance of a flying beast, it folded its wings and dove towards her. The young women found herself unable to move, her limbs frozen solid, she found herself lamenting that her recent misfortunes seemed all to stem from things striking her from above.


	3. Chapter Two

The midnight coated unicorn wandered, somewhat morosely, through the old castle ruin, avoiding its debilitated floors and crumbling walls. He let out an irritated snort. Time had not been kind to his old home, more than a thousand years have passed since he last had trotted through the hallways, and back then it had been a splendor to behold.

Crimson red drapes had lined the marble walls. Carpets with intricate patterns from the lands of the gryphons had adorned the vast hallway floors. Carefully crafted furniture made with exotic woods and gilded fittings had occupied the castle chambers. Jewels, gold and silk had been a staple of every common room.

It had been a home fit for a unicorn of stature as himself. At least it had been until Starswirl the Bearded had showed up with his foalish notion of uniting the three pony tribes in an effort to survive the prolonged winter that was plaguing ponykind. A sour smirk drew over his face over that particular memory.

He had readily offered his services in thwarting the unnatural winter that had held their lands in its icy grip. To his consternation Starswirl had seen fit to choose a mare of humble origins to assist Princess Platinum in a meeting with the other tribes. A fresh snort flew through his nostrils. Clover the clever indeed. It should have been him that had helped the princess, it should have been him that had seen a solution to the windigos that had turned out to be the heart of the winter problem. Not some ridiculous heartfelt moment between a unicorn, a pegasi and an earth pony.

He shuddered upon dwelling on the past. Starswirl even had had the gall to suggest that they would elect two alicorn sisters to lead the united three tribes. He let out a tired sigh as he paused for a moment and stared at a chalice that lay nestled in an uneven pit of a broken floor tile. Nudging it with his right front hoof it budged slightly, sending dust and debris falling off it, revealing pale gold and the faint glimmer of deep red rubies.

Idly studying the old chalice it occurred to him that it been his. He had drunken heartily from it at joyous moments in the gathering of dear friends. Now it lay there, in the muck, as a fitting metaphor for his life. A thousand years gone, thanks to that dithering old foal of a unicorn.

Was he still bitter about how history had taken its turn? Yes, but he was by all accounts a practical pony. There was no point on dwelling on what could have been or what had transpired in the far flung past.

He shot a glance over his left side and stared at the magic bubble hovering there. Inside was an orange coated earth pony, lying perfectly still on her side, fast asleep, courtesy of a sleep spell. He hadn't wanted a repeat of the other, pink colored, earth pony he had captured. She had been exceedingly irritating with her incessant babbling. It had been an endless stream of questions, inane comments and even singing.

He took a moment and studied the sleeping earth pony. How was it that the elements of magic had chosen such simple ponies as representatives? The idea of earth ponies as avatars for this power was sickening. Still he would have ample time to figure out the power they represented and how he could use it to further his own plans.

His first idea of using Celestia as source of power had failed. She had proven quite difficult in subduing and the ring he had bestowed her had not provided the result he had wished for. She was still fighting the effect of it despite his efforts to the contrary.

When he still had been a colt, his teachers had pointed out that alicorn magic was quite different from unicorn magic. Back then he had admired the alicorns but as he had grown older and more proficient with magic that admiration had waned considerably, dismissing alicorn magic as merely an advanced version of unicorn magic.

As much as he hated to admit it but he might have been on the verge of making a very serious mistake in challenging Celestia after all and that his teachers had been quite right regarding alicorns.

Still, she was locked inside the lower dungeon safe and secure. Now he just had to put this thing in her proper holding place and then he had to consider if and how he was to tackle the final piece of his puzzle; the holder of the element of magic, he couldn't afford any more mistakes, not when he was this close.

_…_

Jennifer ran. She firmly regretted several decisions that had led her to her current situation with the number one being having left her bed this morning. The day as it had unfolded had brought her nothing but grief, especially in the form of unwanted exercise.

Minutes earlier she had been frozen in place while the gryphon that had dived for her had drawn closer at an incredible speed. Mere feet from reaching her it had found its trajectory cut off by a second gryphon that had slammed into it out of nowhere.

Colored in tan and with white feathers the new arrival had tackled the first gryphon and together they had tumbled to the ground where the brown and grey one had found itself pinned to the ground.

Two things had transpired following this event. Firstly a string of angry squawks and squeals intermixed with a high pitched noise that could only be described as laughter spewed from the two gryphons. Secondly Jennifer suddenly found all her faculties once more in working order and thusly she did what any sane person would do in a similar situation; she ran.

A quick glance over her shoulder reviled that the pair of gryphons weren't pursuing her, instead they were staring in her direction with expressionless faces, heads lifted above the swaying sea of grass.

It was not until she had almost reached the tree line when the newcomer, the tan and white colored one, took to the air with a long drawn squawk and set to close the distances between itself and Jennifer at an alarming rate.

With a strangled scream the young woman stumbled through the first row of thick trees that stood as solemn guards. Spotting a group of large bushes intermixed between a pair of trees Jennifer threw herself on the soft ground behind them, feverishly hoping that this would prove a suitable shelter from the two roving gryphons.

Leaning back against one of the nearby trees, the smooth bark gave amble support for Jennifer's tired body. Hunger gnawed in the pits of her stomach and her muscles burned in pain. Gulping down air in to her heaving chest she scanned the nearby tree line for her pursuers.

Screeching sounds echoing down from above the forest canopy suggested that the pair of gryphons hadn't given up on finding her just yet.

Jennifer drew her legs close to her body and wrapped her arms around them, trying to be as quiet as she could, feverishly hoping that they wouldn't find her. The squawks and high pitched screeching soon faded in the distance as the two creatures of mythology flew farther away from where she was hiding.

With a deep, trembling sigh, Jennifer allowed herself to relax where she sat hidden by feral underbrush. Everything was so surreal, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Any further thoughts on the subject of her possible whereabouts were momentarily curtailed. An upturned rot was digging uncomfortably into her lower back, adding to the various pains and aches she was already suffering from.

With a grimace Jennifer managed to twist herself into a more comfortable position. Weary and tired as she was, she decided to stay where she was in order to rest.

The young woman drifted off into sleep as she was quietly lamenting over her hunger and pain. It was not until hours later as she awoken with a start. The last rays of the setting sun filtered through the trees. The shadows around her seemed more sinister and darker as the last vestiges of the daylight faltered.

She was sore, thirsty and hungry. The soreness came from her previous unwanted workout and the upturned root from before she somehow had managed to find in her sleep. Jennifer felt she could kill for a double cheese and bacon burger from Whammy Burgers, a local burger joint just down the street where she lived. With the most amazing burgers they served French fries as thick as he fingers, fried to perfection.

Jennifer's hunger fantasy only made the pain in her gut worse and she knew that right now, she should do anything but drooling over food she couldn't possibly have. She was lost in unfamiliar territory and surviving in the wilderness was not something she readily knew how to do. Though there was one thing Jennifer knew, she possessed an item, a piece of important technology that could save her. The smartphone she carried in her green messenger bag.

A frustrated groan slipped past her lips as the machination of her salvation denied the very help she sought by taunting her with a "no service" message.

Slender finger danced over the touch screen desperately trying to make the phone to find an available network, yet to no avail. In a flash of inspiration she turned her focus to the GPS function of the phone, only to be curtly told that the phone couldn't connect to any available satellites.

Jennifer stared in disbelief at the screen. No phone service, not even the emergency number was available and the most bone chilling part was no GPS coverage. Between strange thunderstorms, creatures strait out of Greek mythology and the absence of any semblance of civilization it was beginning to become clear for Jennifer that she was in a different world entirely.

Despondent over this development she was at loss what she was to do next. While she stood, silent and perfectly still, the forest spoke to Jennifer. A gentle wind tugged the strands of her long hair, the soft rustle of small animals moving through the underbrush, the sharp smell of moss and dark, rich earth tickled her nostrils. Cutting through the background ambiance was a low, soft burbling sound, hinting a brook nearby.

Jennifer hadn't had a drink of water since early morning and it was by hearing the brook happily gurgling that she realized that she was parched. She stumbled forward through the lush underbrush until she found the brook that cut a winding path through the forest floor.

The water was cool, with a hint of minerals and a slight sweetness to it. Rarely has she tasted water this refine, Jennifer drank eagerly from the warbling stream. Having satiated her thirst she sat momentarily staring at the water until a though occurred to her and once more she let her slender hands rummage through her messenger bag.

With a triumphant "Hah!" she retrieved an empty water bottle from the bag. It didn't take long to fill it with water. Placing the container with water back where she found it her actions were curtailed as a low ominous growl sent a chill racing up her back, freezing her in place.

The source of the sudden growl was a large black canine, the outline of the creature was hard to make out among the deep shadows of the forest, yet it almost seemed like the form was fluid, edges of the dog like creature was billowing and flickering like flames. That was, however, not what struck terror to the hapless woman. A pair of bright red eyes burned like embers inside the dark mass, underneath hung a set of sickly yellow, slavering teeth. Long, sharp claws on each paw dug deep into the soft earth underneath it.

Any rational mental discourse about her current situation went out the proverbial window as fear, slithering through her body like a poisonous snake and sinking its fangs deep into her heart, drove her to set off, running away with reckless abandon.

Her heart beat like a mad drum against her ribs, perspiration ran in rivulets, painting thinly drawn streaks down her face. Her thighs burned like a smoldering fire of pain and a troublesome stitch in her left side had begun to manifest itself. Already worn by the previous running she had done, fatigue was setting in and her steps were becoming increasingly heavier.

A quick glance over her left shoulder revealed nothing about the distance to her pursuer or its possible whereabouts. There was nothing behind her but the last golden rays of the sun that filtered through the dense, overhead canopy, sending long, sharply cut shadows across the forest floor. Her momentary lapse in paying attention where she was going was rewarded by a sudden drop where the ground disappeared beneath her feet, which in turn elicited a surprised scream from the fleeing woman.

Her vocal surprise over the sudden disappearance of the ground beneath her was cut off instantaneously as Jennifer landed in a frigid and shallow stream. Jennifer had no time to consider whether this was the same stream from before or another one entirely.

The ice cold water lapped around her ankles, filling her shoes, as she stumbled forward, desperately trying to stay upright. Forging forward in desperation she leapt for the other side of the stream.

She scrambled for a moment where her wet shoes sought traction against the muddy bank before she resumed her panic fueled run through the forest. The water slicked undersides of her shoes betrayed her almost instantaneously where she stepped on a moss covered stone and she was sent tripping towards a willow tree. The tree managed to snag her long, free flowing hair with a low hanging branch and with a violent yank backwards and a fresh scream bursting over her lips she was sent to the uneven ground.

Jennifer laid perfectly still, body limp against the floor, her head still reeling from the abrupt landing. Like a fish tossed on land she gasped for air, trying to get some much wanted oxygen into to her tortured lungs.

She managed to squeeze out a self-berating "Idiot" between gasps, as she tried to gather her wits.

The fact that somewhere in the growing darkness that filled the forest a nightmarish creature was still in pursue prompted her to extract herself from the ground and quickly surveyed the damage the fall had done. Muscles screamed in protest as she stumbled to her feet. Her legs and hands trembled from the exertion and adrenaline, a few scrapes and nicks in the palms of her hands and a light pain in the scalp, she didn't seem worse for wear.

Yet the sight of drawn blood didn't help in her frail state of mind, she stared blankly at the semi coagulated blood that crisscrossed her bare hands.

Jennifer's assessment of her physical faculties was brought to a screeching halt when a low, sinister growl sent her blood running cold. Her head snapped towards the sound and where she saw it, the canine shaped shadow in its black and billowing form where it stood on the elevated bank other side of the stream, she froze like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

It stood in the same spot where she had made her unplanned jump mere moments ago. Jennifer continued to stare at the apparition until a voice screamed in her head to get moving, a whispered expletive slipped over her lips as she turned and continued her blind run through the forest.

The renewed flight from fangs and claws did not last long for the raven-haired woman. Her legs like jelly gave way to a stumbling stop when she fell against a pair of slender birch trees that grew narrowly together. Clinging to the trees her chest burned like fire. Air was drawn down into her tortured lungs in short rapid gasps.

A fresh howl sent the young woman into a quick twirl ending with her back pressed against the two trees her hands weakly lifted, balled into fists. A useless gesture but she had no more energy to continue to flee.

To her surprise the dark canine creature that had so ferociously stalked her through the forest drew a line through the underbrush and it ran right past her, completely ignoring Jennifer as she wasn't there. Instead it made its way into the clearing that lay before her.

It stood silently for a moment sniffing in the air, a diversion that soon was interrupted by a new addition to the small clearing.

A small lavender horse crashed through a brush on the other side of the open area. It came to a quick stop with its front legs wide apart. Immediately it swung around, turning on a dime by kicking off with the hind legs.

Coming around the small horse was immediately beset by two more shadow dogs that came jumping out from the forest. The lead creature disappeared instantaneously in a puff of dark smoke as it was hit by a shimmering beam of bright lavender.

The second one managed to land and crouched for its attack on the horse. It never made it as it too was blasted into oblivion by a beam of lavender. Jennifer was grabbing the twin trees tightly as she peered between them. She feverously hoped that the small horse, or as her exhausted brain finally managed to put forth, pony, would win the engagement with these hostile shadow dogs or whatever they were.

The third dog, the one that had hunted Jennifer, let out an angry snarl and with the long, sharp claws digging deep into the rich dark earth it launched itself towards the lavender pony. Both ears on the pony's head immediately perked up and swiveled backwards into the direction of the charging beast. Just as the dog reached its intended victim, the lavender pony disappeared in a strange flash leaving the shadowy creature violently snapping at thin air.

With a repeated flash, the pony appeared not far from where Jennifer stood. Now much closer, she noticed more details about the quadruped. It roughly reached to her belly in height; it was wearing a pair of grey colored saddlebags, each complete with a pink star emblazoned in the center. It featured dark purple eyes that were much larger than a normal pony would have. There was also a small horn, peeking through the forelock. The mane mirrored the eyes with the same deep, dark purple color with pink accents that ran through the length of it. The sharply cut tail held the same color scheme as the mane.

It occurred to Jennifer as she stared at the pony that it was a unicorn. Yet it looked nothing like it the unicorns of myth and popular fantasy tales. It had no silky smooth goat beard, the hooves weren't cloven and it was anything but white. Still it was wielding a force, originating from the horn, which seemed to be magic. The unicorn pony, with its legs in a wide stance, lowered its head and pointed the horn against the confused shadow beast.

A fresh bolt of lavender streaked across the clearing and the dog disappeared into a puff of dark smoke that quickly dissipated into thin air. The unicorn pony stood momentarily and let its gaze wander over the clearing, the ears flitting back and forth to cover what the eyes didn't see.

The forest remained silent, only a few linger rays of light illuminated the open area, the unicorn let out what sounded like a relieved sigh and sat down on its haunches. With a deft right front leg it drew sweat from its brow, a movement that looked both odd and impossible to Jennifer.

She never had the opportunity to further dwell upon the oddity that the pony like unicorn was. Her legs were beginning to cramp rather painfully and the water logged shoes were becoming wholly uncomfortable which led Jennifer to shift her feet in an attempt to alleviate the pain and the grossness that her shoes had become. This brought her right sneaker down on a dry twig that broke with a loud snap.

The sudden and sharp crackle from the twig echoed through the glade like a gunshot which sent the lavender unicorn jumping to attention. Turning towards the source of the sudden sound it caught sight of the disheveled woman. The large expressive eyes shrank to pinpricks and for a moment it looked right out terrified.

The display of abject horror quickly shifted into determination as the pony let its head fall forward and with it the horn, pointing straight towards Jennifer. Who in turn didn't linger as she knew what would follow. She pushed hard against the twin birch trees sending herself falling backwards as a lavender bolt seared through the air, missing her by a cat's whisker.

The lavender light briefly illuminated the growing darkness like a flare and Jennifer used that as starting shot. She quickly drew her legs underneath herself and stumbled to her feet as she set off in the direction of the bolt, hoping that the unicorn wouldn't follow her into the falling night.

_…_

Twilight stood, slightly trembling, by the tree line in the clearing. Her chest still heaving from the exertion and fright she just had experienced. What had that strange creature been? The tall, slender frame, the odd clothing that had covered its body, the brief flash of a pale, furless hand that had gripped the tree it was nothing she had ever experienced or read about.

The long sweeping mass of hair, not unlike a thick mane, that had billowed and weaved as it disappeared into the creeping darkness.

The forest guards, in the shape of the dog like creatures, were not something that Twilight had ever seen before yet she understood the fundamental magic behind their existence. They had been powered by a simple spell that was usually used by unicorn toymakers making toys and dolls that moved by their own volition. In this case bones and shadows had been given rudimentary life.

In contrast, the strange creature that had stood hidden behind a pair of trees however had been entirely different. Alien and otherworldly in its appearance, the brief look Twilight had gotten had spooked her, as she was still wound up from dodging and fighting the forest guards.

A twang of guilt pierced through the adrenaline still lingering in her veins, she had regretted the bolt of magic almost in the instance she had fired it off. A part of her wanted to call out, to follow in the steps of the fleeing creature, to apologize for her premature attack but Twilight remained rooted where she stood.

She felt that the mare she had been before Celestia had disappeared, before her precious friends began to disappear as well, was slipping through her hooves. The lavender unicorn wondered briefly if Spike knew how much she owed her sanity to the loyal dragon that never wavered from her side.

It was pure chance that had seen her standing in this glade. Her last remaining friend, Applejack, had gone missing in the dead of night, but this time there had been a witness. The sliver of information she had gotten had a lead her to a book, hidden deep within the back shelves of the Golden Oak library.

It had been an old dusty tomb with voluted and gilded writing detailing the life of Starswirl the bearded. In the chapter regarding the election of the two alicorn sisters to lead the fledgling new nation of Equestria Twilight had found that not all ponies had stood behind the unity of the three tribes.

A unicorn noble pony of Princess Platinum's court had held a dissident view. He had vehemently opposed not only the merging of the three tribes but the very idea of two alicorns leading the new nation.

Starswirl the bearded had sought out the noble pony in his castle in order to persuade him to change his mind. There Starswirl found out that the unicorn had more in mind than mere vocal opposition. He intended a revolution.

The book was scant on details as to what exactly had transpired between the two unicorns only that Starswirl had left the castle victorious and the noble pony had never been seen by ponies or any other creature again.

How and where this unnamed pony had come from Twilight couldn't figure out but she now knew where he was hiding and most likely where holding her friends, his old castle that was situated deep in the unicorn range mountains.

Twilight shook her mane back into place over her neck. She couldn't dawdle, the castle was close, she had seen it from the open valley floor before she had entered the forest. There could be more animated shadows lurking in the forest and even if she could easily dispatch them Twilight had no desire to fight them in the dark.

With that and presence of the strange creature in her mind, she quickened her steps as she made for the forest and the castle.


End file.
